Konta sweeps Stephens off the court to reach French semis

Britain's Johanna Konta plays a shot against Sloane Stephens of the U.S. during their quarterfinal match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, Tuesday, June 4, 2019. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)
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PARIS — Sloane Stephens never stood a chance.

Johanna Konta produced a remarkably dominant performance against last year’s runner-up, winning 6-1, 6-4 Tuesday to become the first British woman to reach the French Open semifinals since Jo Durie in 1983.

The match was so one-sided that the 26th-seeded Konta won all but one point on her serve in the second set — and the one that she lost was a double fault.

Konta served six aces, stepped into the court to crush winners off second serves and never gave the seventh-seeded Stephens time to find her rhythm or groove.

“To play one of the best players in the world and then play at the level I did, I feel really proud of myself,” Konta told the crowd.

Konta’s run comes in stark contrast to her four previous appearances at Roland Garros, when she was eliminated in the first round each time.

The match ended in a brisk 71 minutes with the late-arriving Parisian spectators still filing into their wooden seats inside Court Philippe Chatrier as it was finishing.

“There is not much you can do when someone is playing like that,” Stephens said. “I didn’t get a chance to really get into the match. … She executed a good game plan, and that was that.”

Konta’s semifinal opponent will be 19-year-old Marketa Vondrousova, who let a 5-2 lead slip in the second set before finally converting her fourth match point for a 7-6 (1), 7-5 victory over 31st-seeded Petra Martic.